Basically some self reflection?
More or less yeah.
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Like I said, I really like a lot of it. And the fact that these blokes were doing it back in the 8th century or whatever, without any motivation other than obtaining real peace of mind is really inspiring.
I have used it to deal with anxiety, and depression in some cases. The teaching of the validity of letting go of unwanted thoughts has completely changed how I manage my mental health - for the better.
As I got further into it, and read stuff by more recent teachers such as Tolle, I got frustrated with the whole thing to be honest. I felt I was on to something which could change my life but couldn’t accept some of the more extreme teaching such as complete removal from the self.
It’s ok if you are in a monastery in Tibet, or walking around a park in London for months like Tolle, but living an ordinary life and providing has significant obstacles to that way of being.
For me, it is about acceptance. Accept everything, bad feelings and all. That cannot be just switched on though and pain simply must be endured at times.
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I found myself nodding in agreement with all of that.
As Buddhism made it’s way into other cultures it took on aspects of the local pagan practices - much like catholicism … so yeah, there’s large parts of it, depending on teacher, that is a bit out there… But as you say, the very basics of it are a great tool for every day living.
The story of the Buddhist monk in Vietnam back in the 60’s who set himself on fire and burned himself to death as a protest at the treatment of the Buddhists by the South Vietnam administration.
Probably one of the most incredible known cases of human bravery.
And that was all down to the power of the teachings of the Buddha. The tolerance and acceptance of pain. The focussing right on it so that it didn’t become negative anymore, it was just a neutral sensation.
That is what we all should aspire to. Incredible stuff.
You need to find the passion in your life, the thing that truly makes you happy, that you can immerse yourself in, other than glorious pints of porter.
Gardening has been it for me.
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Plenty of stuff makes me happy.
The trick I find is to avoid the stuff that subconsciously is making me unhappy.
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Very little mention of petrol in the Tripitaka in fairness…
That’s tricky alright, I’m still trying to figure out what you just said.
Where would you start with this shit.
Needless to say the Beckhams did similar recently so this will become “a thing”.
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Thinly veiled “the parish priest told us the daughter couldn’t get her first holy communion”.
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Why ?
Have to be a member of the club
Well you know the rules . You could get her baptized if you wanted wouldn’t be a hassle.
From my observation, gaelscoils are booming in large part as the well heeled Irish don’t want their kids mixing with a broad swathe of immigrants. Having one or two in the class always filled such folk with smug wokeness, but half a class full seems a different matter.
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Like my oul pal says, sometimes you’ve just got to grit your teeth.
As a mate of mine told me about his elderly mother who has had more than her fair share of hardship:
‘She gets up in the morning, put on her best suit and away she goes’.
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And that is it. Life is a series of doing things you don’t really want to do.
That silent courage is genuinely inspirational.
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Sin e